Hillsong Church's co-founder Brian Houston is resigning from his function as international senior pastor, the church introduced Wednesday. Final week, the megachurch stated an inside probe into allegations of inappropriate conduct revealed that Houston "breached the Hillsong Pastor's Code of Conduct."
"We perceive there will probably be a lot emotion at this information, and all of us share these emotions," Hillsong stated in a assertion Wednesday. "Regardless of the circumstances round this, we are able to all agree that Brian and Bobbie have served God faithfully over many many years and that their ministry has resulted in tens of millions of individuals the world over being impacted by the facility, grace, and love of Jesus Christ."
On March 18, Hillsong's international board introduced it had reviewed two complaints made towards Houston over the previous 10 years.
The primary accused Houston of sending "inappropriate textual content messages" to a member of the church's employees round a decade in the past. Hillsong stated Houston had developed a dependency on sleeping drugs and was below the affect on the time of the incident. The church stated Houston "instantly apologised to the particular person," however that the employees member in the end resigned.
"To this former employees member, we once more apologise and would welcome the chance to supply additional help if that is wanted," Hillsong stated.
The second grievance accused Houston of "knocking on the door of a resort room that was not his" at a Hillsong convention and "coming into this room and spending time with the feminine occupant." Earlier than the incident, Hillsong stated the pastor "grew to become disoriented" after he consumed a higher-than-prescribed dose of anti-anxiety medicine together with alcohol.
The church famous that whereas the investigation into the second grievance contained particulars that have been unable to be sustained, different necessary parts have been and that "the conduct was of significant concern."
"We felt that we did all we may to help the one that made the grievance and handled this particular person with compassion and respect, and in addition abided by her requirement for confidentiality," Hillsong stated.
Following the probe, Houston agreed to hold out sure measures, however in late 2021 the church stated it needed to take "additional motion" resulting from Houston failing to take all the agreed steps.
In January, Houston introduced he can be stepping apart from all ministry obligations however didn't point out the misconduct complaints. On the time, he stated he was leaving to deal with combating a cost introduced by police in Australia which alleged he hid baby intercourse offenses in a courtroom case involving his father, the Related Press reported.
Hillsong stated final week that the explanations Houston gave for stepping apart at the start of the yr "have been real," and that it didn't make a public assertion on the time as a result of it was "nonetheless working by a variety of points privately with Pastor Brian."
The church, which averages 150,000 attendees weekly throughout its 30 areas world wide, stated its governance construction and processes will bear an impartial evaluate following Houston's resignation.
Houston's resignation comes years after Hillsong New York Metropolis's lead pastor Carl Lentz was fired from the church for management issues, belief breaches and "ethical failures," in line with Leisure Tonight.
"It could not be applicable for us to enter element in regards to the occasions that led to this determination," Houston stated in an announcement on the time. "Our focus at the moment is to honor God and pastorally take care of our East Coast church neighborhood in addition to the Lentz household."